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Month: April 2016

The problem with having a vintage sewing machine obsession is that you tend to develop this completely irrational need to own ALL the vintage sewing machines ever made. All the good ones, anyway. Plus all the pretty ones. Plus the one that your mom had when you were growing up.

And it just. never. stops.

Before you know it, you own 50 vintage sewing machines. Some of them are duplicates because there is no way you are going to find a beautiful machine for a good price and pass it up because you already own one of the exact same model. See? The part of your brain that controls rational thought is completely stomped into submission by a vintage sewing machine obsession.

However, space restraints being what they are, I have decided that while I still want to own ALL the vintage sewing machines, I really don’t needTWOof each. So, Upswing Vintage is transforming into a “Purveyor of Vintage Housewares, Fashion, Amusements and Sewing Machines.”

The first of many you will find in my Etsy shop is this beautiful blue Singer 348 from 1967-1968. I already own one, but I couldn’t pass up this lovely lady even though she was in a sad state when I found her. The motor ran, but the needle would not go up and down; plus, she was filthy inside and out.

This is a post-cleaning picture. Isn’t she pretty?

In the course of giving her a good cleaning, I found the source of the problem with the needle: there was a very small clump of thread stuck in her bobbin case. The exact same problem has happened to me on my Featherweight, so I was not surprised to find that a tiny, 1.5″ long piece of thread had completely incapacitated the machine. I simply plucked it out and she was good to go.

Well, sort of. She ran, but it was sluggish. I opened up the top and bottom and spent a couple hours cleaning decades of dust, grease and general muck from her working parts. I then gave her new grease and oil and tested her out – she is ready to rock and roll once more.

I know that for the uninitiated, buying a vintage sewing machine online can be a frightening proposition. Will it work? Will I know how to thread it? Does it come with all the parts I need? And will it arrive in pieces because the seller doesn’t know how to pack properly?

Let’s answer that last question straight off: I will do everything I can to ensure it gets to you safely. I know all the best practices for shipping sewing machines, and follow them to the letter. I also know the pain of taking delivery of an improperly packed sewing machine – believe me, I know this pain intimately. In the past week alone, I’ve had three machines shipped to me – all three were significantly damaged by improper packing. Sigh.

For the other questions, I figured the best way to answer them is to simply show you the machine in action. So without further ado…

When I ship her off to her new home, I’ll put her foot pedal and power cord inside the bag for safekeeping.